Selina Skies
May 27, 2022 8:20 PM
The Fair by Selina Skies
Familiar faces were flooding back onto campus, and Merlin, it was lovely to see them. Some of them were from so long ago that even Selina didn’t know them. Some of them seemed like they’d only be gone for the blink of an eye, and couldn’t possibly have grown and become adults with so many life experiences to share. Not that the fair was strict on meeting any kind of standard. They’d asked for alumni to share something that was important to them, be it a career or a hobby, and to try to make something fun out of it—to make sure it was more of a booth than a presentation.Selina had to admit she’d been skeptical about that, or at least had struggled to see how most careers could be turned into something fun and interactive. Luckily, the alumni were much more creative than she was when it came to that. There was a huge range of fun and interesting activities. Evelyn Stones was working on becoming a play therapist, and (accompanied by Heinrich Hexenmeister) had a tie dye booth which included both magical and non-magical options—and a fancy little explanation about using different methods to achieve the same results, and integrating different parts of your identity being therapeutic, which Selina was sure most students would ignore in favour of just making loud, obnoxious shirts. Andrew Duell had some kind of ride where all the pieces were mechanically joined together—nothing floated, or appeared and disappeared, and the whole thing made strange grinding noises. Selina was well aware that theirs was a culture that encouraged children to play a game where metal balls flew at their heads, so she wasn’t quite sure why she distrusted this machine quite so much. She was telling herself it was educational, and keeping a wary eye on it. Nic Sawyer had hoverboards. That was it. Just straight up hoverboards.
Some of the booths were more obviously career-related, or educational. Jhonice Trevear had kids scrambling around to bring her the best headline from the fair. Dorian Montoir, who had gone into translations and museum archiving, had a booth demonstrating the evolution of various Chinese characters, and the opportunity to try out some calligraphy.
There were also people whose jobs or hobbies naturally fitted in with a fun fair. The Anns’ business was fancy clothes, and they were showcasing that very well by letting people get dressed up and have their pictures taken. Holly Delachene was running pony rides. Alessa Jacobs was giving tarot readings. Jozua Sparks had a fun house that Selina trusted somewhat more than Andrew Duell’s ride, because by the end of his time at Sonora, she had the feeling that Jozua actually exploded things on purpose, and so many of them happened around him because he wanted them to. She was trusting that he had enough sense not to explode her students. At least, not very much.
For entertainment, Saul Pierce was doing magic tricks. Selina wasn’t entirely sure whether these were the novelty non-magical ‘magic’ tricks that some people enjoyed, or fancy stunt magic that the students would still be impressed by in spite of having spells up their own sleeves. He had just said ‘magic tricks’ and she’d said that sounded fine, and moved onto the next thing that needed arranging. There were even some refreshments, as Peyton Priory had baked goods.
The students had all been given tokens to spend, in order to ensure an equal fair experience for everyone. They would have a few hours to look around and enjoy. After they had finished up and been put on the wagons home, the alumni would be treated to a celebratory dinner, which would give them more of a chance to mingle with each other and their former teachers—though Selina was sure they would find plenty of chances for helloes and catch ups throughout the day as well.
OOC: Welcome to the Fair!
You may post your character interacting with any of the booths mentioned. You may assume normal interactions, e.g. having the alumni give you equipment/turns/let you onto the ride etc, but beyond this, please do not write for them.
You may talk to and interact with the alumni, or post with other students.
All alumni activities were submitted by their authors. If you have alumni and would like to post them with a description of their booth, you are free to do so.
Those with alumni here are welcome to post them running their booth, taking a break to catch up with friends, or enjoying the after party.
Subthreads: Reunion by Liesl Brockert
Temple of Doom by Jozua Sparks with Constance Melcher
Not again by Osvaldo Alamilla
Just trying to get through by Lazarus Jareau-Fletcher with Lenny Pierce
Aimless wandering by Iris Cobb with Ian Malone
Baked goods by Wally O'Malley with Valentine Duell
Some of this seems fun. by Esme Brockert with Valentine Duell
Quietly hopeful by Sapphire Brockert
Leggo my LEGOs? by Cole Pierce with Christopher Brockert, Yaniel Ayala Velez
The ride of your life! by Andrew Duell
Me brain hurt by Stanley O'Malley
Nostalgic (Gaming Club member) by Gabriel Wilson with Phil Carson
Almost gone by Anya Delachene with Theo Spurn
Ending on a high note [tag Jasmine] by Ellie Alperton with Jasmine Delachene
Roommate bonding (Tag Rosalynn and/or Lorena) by Isla Brockert with Rosalynn Tellerman
Aftermath by Lavender Brockert
Transitions by Amethyst Brockert
13
Selina Skies
The Fair
26
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5
Esme Brockert
June 01, 2022 3:01 PM
Some of this seems fun. by Esme Brockert
Esme was sort of looking forward to the fair. It was often one of the better events that Sonora put on. She admittedly enjoyed it better than the ball, to be honest. While of course the Crotalus loved dressing up and dancing, any ball that was put on by the school paled in comparison to the sort that she would be attending for the rest of her life.Especially since the ones that Esme would attend outside of school were with, well, people more like her. Last year, it seemed like everyone of a certain age was paired off and her and her relatives were left out. So it wasn’t just that they didn’t have dates-which was to be expected given the current lack of purebloods of their social status-it was that everyone else had been busy with theirs, and that left nobody to really talk to or dance with or anything. So, what fun was that?
Besides, the fair had a certain…novelty to it. Esme would attend many balls over her life but she may or may not get to go to any more fairs. Plus, they weren’t even the same as the previous ones. The last school fair had been a charity fair where the students raised money for various causes and had put together their own booths for it. This one seemed to be more of an alumni career and hobby fair so students hadn’t had to put anything together at all. Esme could see the benefits of both, depending on what someone liked to do.
Although both did seem a little…cobbled together in terms of the type of activities involved. This one seemed to have as many sorts of making or doing things as it did games and rides. Some of these activities appealed to her more than others. For example, the sixth year was naturally more interested in the booths where they could do crafts than, say,the fun house type thing with that had the word doom involved. Generally, she preferred more refined things and besides, nobody needed to do anything involved with doom when Topaz Brockert was their cousin. They got quite enough of it, thank you very much!
Esme headed off towards where her sister Allegra was with some of their distant relations, at a booth that involved quilting and sewing and embroidery and other similar crafts. These were generally the sorts of things she enjoyed and of course, she wanted to greet her sister, before going on to say hello to Cory and Alessa. However, before she could make it there, someone approached her. “Oh, hello.” She greeted them.
11
Esme Brockert
Some of this seems fun.
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Valentine Duell
June 01, 2022 5:39 PM
I'm enjoying it more than last time. by Valentine Duell
It would be a while before Val learned how she had done with her CATS, and longer still before she graduated and started doing life things. Still she knew that proper preparation was key to having a plan work out favorably. To that end, she planned to meet with the Alumni at the fair that sold wands and see what she could learn.The fair itself was a bit of an odd experience for her. It had been her first end of year event, and now it was here again. She could remember the terrible problem she'd had as a first year. All of the charity money Mama and Papa had given her had gone to buying a quilt for her newly rediscovered Aunt Giselle. She hadn't even had any money left over for snacks. It had been terrible! Now she could laugh at the memory of her own poor first year antics, even though it hadn't been much fun at the time. Aunt Giselle had liked the quilt, and still had it on her bed, so that was good.
At the moment, Val was seeing what this particular fair had to offer, and who was about enjoying it. She knew Papa was around somewhere with some sort of mechanical monstrosity of a ride. She'd need to find him and try it out at some point. He'd started designing it as soon as he'd heard about the fair. While she was anxious to see her parents again, she would have all summer with them. Now was the last chance she would have to see her school friends for a while, so she was looking for them.
Valentine spotted Esme strolling through the fair as well and it occurred to her that she hadn't interacted with the slightly older girl in quite a while. It was well past time to fix that. In a moment She was by Crotalus with a friendly smile in response to the greeting. "Hi Esme!" She cheered, "How are you doing? Anything here catch your eye yet?"
2
Valentine Duell
I'm enjoying it more than last time.
1490
0
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Esme Brockert
June 02, 2022 3:59 PM
I'm glad to hear it. by Esme Brockert
OOC: CW-Briefly mentions abuse BIC:
Esme smiled at Val, whom she considered one of her closer friends at Sonora. Not that Val was as close to her as she was to other people but the sixth year was generally okay with that. In all honesty, it was amazing to her that the Teppenpaw was able to keep up with so many people. She sort of wondered how Val did it.
It was something that Esme would probably have to do when she left Sonora, because she was bound to become a socialite and while she didn’t have that many friends at school, and nobody besides her relatives, and somewhat Val and Sadie really, she really did believe she was going to be decent at being one-and, while it felt somewhat mean to say it, probably better at it than her sisters. Allegra was painfully shy and was pretty much an abuse victim, and Isla was…Isla. She was different. Esme loved them both dearly but neither of them was really the socialite type.
Actually come to think of it, this was true of a lot of her relatives.Sapphire was very similar to Allegra for the same reasons. Emerald wasn’t exactly a social butterfly.Topaz…well, Esme supposed that Topaz could pretend and act like one if she needed to. Actually, now that the Crotalus thought about it, Topaz could probably play the society games quite well, being what a rotten manipulative little monster that the Aladren alumna was. Aside from that though, the only ones Esme thought would make decent socialites were Amethyst-Amethyst seemed born for that more than her siblings-and possibly Alma and Liesl’s younger sister Krisalyn. Ruby also seemed to do well enough at it. Esme was still unsure about Libby and it was much too early to figure out how well Ella and Lorelei would do. Liesl was possibly worse than Isla.
And the Crotalus had her doubts about the boys. Christopher was damaged by how vile Uncle Eustace was, similar to Allegra and Sapphire with Topaz. Miles was extremely shy and Olaf was like a mini-Grandfather.
However, Angelique was the best at it of all of them. Angelique had pulled herself up after her “disastrous”-her words- time at Sonora, which was totally not her fault at all. She had just been in a “bad situation”-also her words. Angelique could be more than a tad dramatic about her “absolutely tragic” (yes, also her words) situation at Sonora. In a different world, maybe she would have been an actress.
Val, the sixth year thought, was a little like Ruby. They were both really nice and friendly, and quite social. Okay, her cousin was “quite” social, and Val was extremely social. Val, if she was a pureblood, might do well at being a socialite as she was possibly the most social person that Esme knew.
“My sister Allegra is over there doing quilting and my cousin Ruby is doing flower arrangement with some of our other more distant cousins at some sort of combination crafting booth. It has various forms of activities such as knitting, sewing, embroidery, crochet and some simple crafts.” Esme replied, smiling at the Teppenpaw. “It might not be as exciting as some of the other things, like that…doom thing, but it’s more my style. Plus, of course I want to say hello to my sister and cousin.”
“I also should go over to say hello to some of my other cousins too. My father’s cousin Alessa is doing tarot readings and his cousin Cory is over there playing guitar and giving small introductory lessons. I think he also has information about wand making since his actual job is selling wands for the Brockert family heir, Adam who makes them.” She looked at Val. “ Do you want to do any of that? If you want to hang out we can do both that and something else you want to do. I’ll even try the activities I’m not that interested in if it’s what you want to do” Even though Esme was generally okay with the fact that Val was hanging out with others often, that didn’t mean that she didn’t relish a chance to hang out with the Teppenpaw. “Oh and my cousin Owen and his wife Jemima have some sort of writing and illustrating thing that I want to try.” She really wanted to support all her relatives that were here.
11
Esme Brockert
I'm glad to hear it.
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Valentine Duell
June 04, 2022 6:16 PM
How about you? by Valentine Duell
Valentine was glad to see Esme smile at her in response to her salutation. To be fair though, Val was usually glad when people smiled in general. Real smiles anyway, fake smiles were terrible things. She listened attentively as Esme went through her list of relations that were here contributing to the fair. This was only a small part of the Brockert family, the other year she had tried to map out the family tree and had gotten awful lost and confused along the way. The Teppenpaw readily admitted she was rather envious of such an extended family. Her own was only three aunts (only one of which she got to see regularly) and one tiny baby cousin. There was also potential for a semi-unconfirmed uncle... but not really? Aunt Jhonice was here as well, maybe she would have to ask her about it if she remembered. Papa hadn't been very clear when she'd asked him last, she suspected he wasn't sure what to make of the situation either."That sounds fine to me." Valentine responded. "At the last fair I bought a quilt from the booth that Allegra and Caitlin were running. It was really nice, I gave it to Aunt Giselle and she still has it on her bed." Val nodded in agreement about Esme saying hi to her family. "I'll need to see some family as well. Papa's got some sort of ride contraption that I'll need to go on, Mama is there helping him. Aunt Jhonice has some sort of journalism stand set up, and Mr. Sawyer has some of his hoverboards here." She still wanted to figure out how he exactly fit in, 'Mr. Sawyer' just seemed like an odd way to refer to her cousin's father. Waitaminute...
Val turned to Esme with an excited gleam in her eye. "Aunt Jhonice and Mr. Sawyer are both here, that means Ramona probably is as well! Do you want to meet my baby cousin? She's adorable!"
"You know the wandmaker? Or.. the wandseller?" Val asked as Esme mentioned Cory and Adam. "I had heard they were going to be here, and did want to talk to them a bit." She sighed a small sigh, "Assuming my CATS come back okay, I'd like to pursue wandmaking, and it sounds like I need to find someone to apprentice under. I thought talking to someone that had gone through the process already might be nice."
OOC: Mama's (Marissa's) actions approved by her author
2
Valentine Duell
How about you?
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Esme Brockert
June 05, 2022 2:01 AM
I'm also enjoying myself. by Esme Brockert
OOC: CW-Some old fashioned attitudes about out of wedlock births BIC:
“Really?” Esme replied. “It was most likely Allegra who made that quilt. It’s her favorite hobby and she’s made them for pretty much a lot of people in our family for gifts. Like she’s made baby blankets for our youngest brother and all our little cousins that are more closely related to us, not just our first cousins but my dad’s cousin’s children, and she made quilts for wedding gifts for the ones who got married too.” Emerald, Ruby, Owen and Angelique and their spouses had all gotten quilts from Allegra.
Esme looked at Val. “She would probably appreciate hearing how your aunt liked the quilt.” It would be good for Allegra to receive a compliment. The Crotalus alumna did not have great self esteem. Everyone in their family seemed to like the quilts-even Miles was super attached to the baby blanket that Allegra had made him-but they were family . Somehow, people assumed that family had to be nice and compliment you whether they meant it or not. Never mind that that theory was easily disproved by the fact that the sixth year would never compliment Topaz or Uncle Eustace on anything.
“I take it that Mr. Sawyer is your aunt’s boyfriend?” Esme asked. Having a baby before you got married was…a tad unorthodox and not something that the Crotalus would ever want to do personally. It just sounded so…difficult. Like you would likely have to struggle without support and for someone like her there would certainly be some who would judge her harshly and shame her family for it. It might seem…wrong somehow to some, but Esme really did take pride in her family name and would not want to do anything to tarnish it. Besides, they might feel pressured to cast her out to maintain their standing whether or not they wanted to and she genuinely loved most of them and would not want to lose them. So, no, having a baby out of wedlock was not something that she would ever want to do.
Still, if it worked for them and they were happy, well, Esme was not going to look down on them for it, because it didn’t sound like they were really hurting anyone. “I suppose we can try some of those things too.” She replied.
The next thing Val said made her smile. “I’d love to meet her. My cousin Alessa just had a baby a few months ago too, but I don’t think she brought him or his older brother. Nor is my cousin who’ll be in your cousin’s class here either.” After all there was no reason at all for Honora to show up. Aunt Helena was not an alumna and Uncle Eustace was not here, thank Merlin. Even if he was here, he certainly would not have brought the daughter he didn’t want.
Esme nodded. “Yeah the guy who makes them is Adam, the great-grandson of the Brockert family patriarch. I sort of know him.” It was a big family and they weren’t that closely related nor were they close in age. “And because he’s on the shy side, my dad’s first cousin Cory does the selling. He’s fairly personable.” She looked around, spotting Cory strumming his guitar while Liesl sat on a giant pillow nearby “It looks like he's the one here, not Adam.” Which from what she knew of Adam was pretty much to be expected. “
She spotted someone else though, which made her add “Although I do see Adam’s brother Evan. He seems to have some sort of…experimental art thing.” Evan was an artist who tended to make things that were on the abstract side.
11
Esme Brockert
I'm also enjoying myself.
1479
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5
Valentine Duell
June 05, 2022 6:22 PM
Excellent, that is always best by Valentine Duell
"I'll be sure to let her know then," Valentine replied back with a smile. She liked doing things that people appreciated and made them happy. It gave her a nice fuzzy, warm feeling as well to brighten someone else's day. She had never interacted a lot with Allegra when the older girl had been attending the school, but from the impressions that she had gotten, she thought that maybe Esme was right and could use a good compliment or two. From the sound of the booth's theme that they were heading towards, it should be easy enough to work into the conversation without it even seeming a little bit awkward.Valentine processed Esme's next question for a moment before responding. "I guess that would be the best way of putting it?" She responded very slowly as if still considering each word individually as she spoke it. She really wasn't sure how much she should say on the matter, especially since she didn't know anything officially or unofficially. From what she'd heard... they didn't really even consider themselves really in any sort of relationship other than co-parenting and thus conveniently co-habiting for Ramona. It was a very odd situation and she was pretty sure Mama didn't entirely approve of some things and Papa was just staying out of it. Though he had written that Mr. Sawyer had helped him some on the ride. "It's a bit odd and I don't know all the details." She sighed.
"You are certainly welcome to, but don't think that you have to." Val certainly wouldn't mind hanging out with Esme more, but certainly didn't want her to think she had to do things she didn't want to just to make her happy. She wasn't a big fan of people making themselves unhappy just to please her, that made her feel mean and terrible. "There are also school people I want to see as well before we all go our separate ways for the summer."
Valentine's smile shone brightly, "Oh? That'll be wonderful, hopefully they'll be great friends. We can swing by Aunt Jhonice's and Mr. Sawyer's booths on the way from Allegra's to the rest of your family's. You can let little Ramona know that she'll have a classmate to be friends with!"
"Oh!" Val exclaimed a bit as Esme pointed out the both and man with the guitar. She naturally recognized Liesl sitting with hm. Liesl was a good fellow Teppenpaw, but suddenly Val felt awful nervous, "Did... did you want to see them now, or still check in with Allegra first?"
OOC: Mr. Sawyer's actions approved by his author
2
Valentine Duell
Excellent, that is always best
1490
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5
Esme Brockert
June 06, 2022 9:24 PM
Indeed by Esme Brockert
Esme smiled warmly at the Teppenpaw. “Great.” She was certain that the compliment would make Allegra’s day. Although the former Crotalus seemed to have things a bit better now that she had her fiance, Josh and was not around Topaz nearly as much, the damage had been done and Allegra suffered from extremely low self-esteem so any little bit of positive affirmation went a long way. Esme continued“ And maybe you can make a baby blanket for your cousin or make her a small stuffed toy or something. I think that’s the sort of simple sewing, and other things that they have at my family’s crafting booth.”Val seemed…a bit perplexed on how to reply to Esme’s question about the relation between the Teppenpaw’s aunt and this Mr. Sawyer who was the father of her cousin.Maybe things between them were a bit more complicated than that. “Oh. It’s all right.” The sixth year reassured her friend. Val did not have to explain it to her. She was not owed an explanation about someone else’s family and she was not going to pry. Besides, at least Mr. Sawyer was trying to be a father to his child even if he wasn’t marrying Val’s aunt. It was more than Uncle Eustace was doing and he was married to Aunt Helena.
“Admittedly, I’m not so sure about the hoverboards but depending on what the ride is, I’m willing to give it a try. What do you know about it?” Esme asked. She wasn’t exactly afraid to ride the hoverboards per se, it was more like..she was afraid of looking or seeming undignified. Nor did she want to ride something where she might end up upside down. Not only was it a fairly unpleasant feeling, the Crotalus was wearing a skirt. “The journalism thing sounds kind of cool though.”
She nodded. “That’s fine, I’m sure I can find someone else to hang out with.”” If nothing else Esme would make her way back to the booth where Allegra was. Of course, she’d get to see her sister over the summer so maybe she could hang out with Sadie or something. Although her roommate would probably want to hang out with Dathan the entire time since he was graduating.
Well, there had to be someone who’d want to spend time with her. At least, Esme hoped so. She didn’t want this to be like the ball. As much as she tended to restrain herself now, far from the nasty temper that she’d displayed in her childhood and outside she was completely dignified and never let her emotions show, inside she found it fairly depressing to be enjoying a school event by herself.
Despite this,Esme returned Val’s smile. “I hope so. Alessa’s son, Theo will actually be in the year behind Ramona’s but Honora, my first cousin, should be in the same one.” The Crotalus remembered that Val’s cousin had been born last year like Honora had been. “It would be amazing if they ended up being friends. We can definitely go there after we stop by Allegra’s booth.” Okay, it wasn’t only Allegra’s booth but it was easier to say it that way. “And then go to see my other relatives.”
Val suddenly seemed…unsure about going over to Cory’s booth. “Is something wrong?” The Crotalus asked. She didn’t know what the problem could be and she wanted to make sure that the fifth year was okay although of course, she hoped that she wasn’t prying. However, checking on a friend’s well-being was quite different from asking about an awkward family situation that was none of Esme’s business.“We can still go see Allegra first, followed by your aunt and cousin and Mr. Sawyer. However, you don’t have to worry about talking to Cory, he’s one of the nicest people that I know, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my cousin.” After all, Topaz was her cousin too and Esme certainly wouldn’t say that about her.
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Esme Brockert
Indeed
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Valentine Duell
June 08, 2022 5:50 PM
How do we keep it going? by Valentine Duell
Valentine nodded along with Esme's suggestions of booth crafts. "I used to sew stuffed doll and animals." She giggled lightly, "I had a different way of 'making friends' before I got to school. I haven't tried to make a blanket or anything, is it difficult?" It seemed to her that blanket making required either a muggle loom-type contraption, or some very complicated charms to make the fibers or whatnot to weave together properly."The hoverboards aren't bad, not quite as exciting as a broom, but fun." She thought about the small amount of time she got to experiment around on one. "It's really just a board that you stand on, and it floats a few inches above the ground. You can push the ground with one foot and then glide around just by shifting your weight a bit." As she walked, she swung her hips from side to side a bit, miming the motion to steer the hoverboard. "It's actually probably a bit more 'proper'," she accentuated the word and gave Esme a wink, "If you're wearing a dress or skirt than straddling a broom." She glanced down at her own long skirt, "If it was a bit longer..." she mused out loud, "Then it'd hide the board as well and it'd just look like I was floating around."
"He build some sort of bench that can hold a few people and swing them around in a circle. I think he's got some controls inside it so the riders can determine how fast and high they go." At the mention of Aunt Jhonice's journalism booth, Val looked around conspiratorially and moved her head closer to Esme's so that she could whisper. "I think Aunt Jhonice is getting the students around here to do some work for her. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the info she collects today winds up in an article soon." She gave another 'look around to see if anyone was eavesdropping' then pulled back with another light giggle. "Still, she'll make sure they do it properly though. She likes a good story, but won't stand for any of that 'nonsensical sensationalism' or twisting the story so that it sounds like what people want it to sound like."
Val smiled in agreement with Esme's hope of Ramona and Honora being friends. "I wonder what the school will be like for them in ten years? Do you think any of the same teachers will still be here?"
The Teppenpaw shrank a bit at Esme's question, "No..." she answered with more hesitation than she'd like. "No, just a sudden onset of anxiety or nerves about the future. I'm sure he's wonderful to talk with." She sighed, "It's just another step of getting ready for 'the real world' after graduation, which is still far enough away for me, but..." She looked back over at the Wandseller again. "I'm only finishing up my fifth year, is it to soon to start worrying about missing this place and moving on?"
2
Valentine Duell
How do we keep it going?
1490
0
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Esme Brockert
June 10, 2022 9:33 PM
By making the most of it by Esme Brockert
“Oh, that’s really cool.” Esme replied. “I think that’s the sort of crafts they have there.” Admittedly, she was slightly surprised to hear that it was something that Val had done. After all, she always thought that non-pureblood girls didn’t really value needlework and fiber crafts, thinking they were old-fashioned stereotypically feminine pastimes and therefore they were backwards and wrong, and those who enjoyed them did so because they were buying into something that men had forced on them and there was no way that they could possibly genuinely like the traditionally feminine hobbies and there was something inherently inferior with liking to sew and knit or play with dolls and they should want to play Quidditch and do other things like that.In other words, they were just as extreme in their views as Uncle Eustace was in the other direction but also promoting a form of misogyny in a totally hypocritical way, because they were arguing for so-called female empowerment. If they wanted to play sports and have careers, fine, but that wasn’t for everyone. Forcing someone to fit into a certain role was something these people complained about but then went ahead and tried to do themselves.
It was, however, sort of sad that Val felt the need to do that in order to have friends though and Esme was a bit surprised by that too. It wouldn’t be so bad if someone was content to spend time with dolls and stuffed animals for their companions, like Isla and her puppets, but the Teppenpaw was such a social butterfly that Esme couldn’t imagine that she was happy that way.
“You didn’t go to school with other kids?” She asked. Which she supposed made sense, since while Val wasn’t a pureblood, she wasn’t a Muggleborn either. So, it didn’t seem the best thing to put her in a school with Muggle children where she’d be different, especially since her parents were also both magical, something that could cause issues. Still, Val was so social that depriving her of contact with other people seemed as harmful as forcing a super shy introverted person to go to a school full of other kids. It wasn’t a situation where she would thrive so in this case, Esme wasn’t sure what was the right thing, because putting a person in a place where they were the odd one out was also not setting them up for success.
Fortunately, she would never have to figure it out. She hoped. Of course, in some cases, you never knew if someone was going to be different until they got to school and saw what their classmates were like. Such as was the case with Angelique. Or even Sapphire. It had been pretty likely that the seventh was going to be the only epileptic in her class but not that she was going to be the only pureblood. Or the only other one being a distant cousin, in Esme’s case. You couldn’t very well ask the school if there were going to be other purebloods in a certain year group or if anyone else was going to have a personality and interests that were compatible with your child. “A small quilt, baby blanket sized isn’t hard since you already knew how to sew.”
“Oh.” Esme replied. The bit about things not being as exciting as a broom didn’t bother her since she had never enjoyed riding a broom all that much. Plus, Val also made it sound like propriety wasn’t going to be too much of an issue. “That doesn’t sound so bad, just for a small ride if I don’t have to go really high. Your dad’s ride doesn’t sound too terrible either.”
She chuckled at the suggestion that they would be doing Val’s aunt’s work for her.”I hardly think anything that goes on here would make a good story to anyone beyond those who go to school here. However, I’m glad to see she has some journalistic integrity.” There needed to be more reporters like that. Like many people who were from well-known families, Esme had a healthy wariness about reporters who were just looking for someone like her to do something scandalous and newsworthy. However, Val had told the Crotalus long ago that her aunt was more interested in the glamor associated with people like the Brockerts than wanting to see them humiliated.
“I don’t know.” Esme replied. “I mean, most of the current professors are fairly young” As wizards and witches lived longer than Muggles, someone in their fifties like Professor Xavier was still fairly young relatively speaking “but that doesn’t mean they won’t decide they want to work somewhere else. I don’t think Grandfather will retire until at least when Honora graduates.” After all, while he wasn’t the nicest staff member, he was the only advocate she and her siblings and cousins really had on staff-and Honora, with Uncle Eustace as her father needed all the advocates she could get.
“Oh.” Esme said again. “I suppose that can be kind of scary. Change is often a bit unnerving and the idea of adulthood and adult responsibilities can be kind of daunting.” She considered what Val’’s question about it being too soon. “I mean, feelings and worries and such are not really something with a specific..timetable you know? You had a good experience at school. It’s natural to think of how much you’ll miss it. Just make the most of the next two years.”
“Personally, I’m looking forward to next year.” Esme went on. “I think we’ll be doing the Challenges again and I’ve been waiting to lead a team since they did them during Sapphire’s first year and I realized that the next time around fell during my seventh year and I’d get to lead one.” She looked at Val. “You might get to do so too, since I think if there are more teams than seventh years they ask sixth year prefects next.” At least she assumed that, because it was what made sense to her.
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Esme Brockert
By making the most of it
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Valentine Duell
June 15, 2022 6:11 PM
That sounds like a good plan by Valentine Duell
Valentine shook her head a bit forlornly, "No, Mama taught me at home. There weren't a lot of other kids around our area and..." She paused before continuing. She knew that Mama wondered if she hadn't been a little subconsciously overprotective of Val after the disaster with Aunt Giselle when they'd returned from Greece. Surely Mama and Papa could have found her a normal school to go to if they had really wanted to, but had they at some level kept her close so that they didn't loose her as well, even if they didn't know what they were doing or why? Regardless, it wasn't really something she'd want to put out there for anyone to hear. "And Mama was a very good teacher, but I was very excited to get here!" Val ended enthusiastically."That sounds like fun then, It'd be neat to make Ramona something like that if I can." Although she was starting to wonder if there was some mystical connection she had between fairs and quilts. "As for the hoverboards, I can't promise you'll like them, but you'll never know if you don't try." She gave Esme an encouraging smile. "Papa wrote and said he was trying to design the thing to be as 'exciting' or 'tame' as the rider might like." She moved her head in closer to Esme's and lowered her voice. "I think he's got an unofficial competition going on with Mr. Sawyer and his hoverboards, seeing who can get the most tokens from us. So he wanted his to be open to the widest range of students possible." She gave the other girl a wink, "Which means to be a good daughter I'll have to ride his at least twice for every turn I take on the hoverboards." Then she pulled back away again to normal conversation distance.
Val chuckled along with Esme, "You never quite know with Aunt Jhonice. If she gets enough small things put together right, she might just find a bigger story somewhere between them all. Still I think everyone will be safe enough from her." She couldn't find fault with Esme's logic about the teachers, still she knew that the entire staff had changed since Mama and Papa had come here. But that had also been more than just ten years.
The Teppenpaw nodded, "Yeah, I'll go and talk to him. That was on my plan for today, but that will take a little bit different of a mindset than the enjoying the rest of the fair." She paused again and looked over in the direction of the wand seller again, "Maybe I should just go and do it now, then it won't be looming over my head and I can enjoy everything else properly."
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Valentine Duell
That sounds like a good plan
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